Lambert Airport reports fewer runway errors

ST. LOUIS -- After working to improve safety, Lambert Airport saw fewer potentially dangerous runway errors last year.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday released figures showing that there were five runway errors last year at the St. Louis airport, most of them minor and none requiring evasive action. The airport recorded nine in the previous year.

The FAA routinely records runway errors to find ways airports could improve.

In the most recent numbers, Lambert managed to rank 19th in the number of runway errors, a significant improvement over the years. Lambert ranked No. 2 among U.S. airports in 1998 after also recording nine errors that year.

Errors dropped slightly in the past year due to air traffic that was not as heavy as usual and the closure of a runway that figured in a deadly 1994 crash.

Two occupants of a Cessna 441 were killed on Nov. 22, 1994, after their plane mistakenly taxied onto the wrong runway and was struck by a TWA jet. The pilot was supposed to take off from a shorter runway just to the north.

Lawson said the airport closed the northernmost runway after a minor error there over the summer.

"It isn't used very much, but there was a disproportionate amount of problems associated with that runway," said Denny Lawson, who manages the FAA's runway safety program for four states.

Lambert records about 500,000 takeoffs and landings a year. It's usually among the 15 busiest airports in the United States, though Lambert spokesman Mike Donatt said no final traffic figures for last year were available.

The airport also has improved signs, markings and lights on its runways in recent years.